Just wanted to drop everyone a big thank you on this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Last year this time, we managed to pump out our first post-Sandy batch of pies, a small batch reserved for our Red Hook neighbors, and it was the first time us Hookers took a break from storm recovery. Today, we and the majority of our neighbors are open for business, so much thanks to all of you who contributed to our recovery.

We're still far away from being finished, which I think is a good thing. We're gearing up for dealing with Whole Foods (in a few weeks) which we're not quite sure is a good thing yet.

I did want to give everyone an opportunity to visit our website and sign up for our mailing list if you were interested keeping in touch with us, or if you're not in touch with us via Facebook but by email, stop in and say hello . I'm not sure how long I'll have access to the GoFundMe pages nor how long I'll want to bother you via this method.

Basically, I just wanted y'all to know I haven't forgotten about you. From all of us here at Steve's, have a great Thanksgiving.

Our one year Sandy anniversary, and we've decided to take this campaign down and get on with things. We've got lots of work to do, and at this juncture, hanging on to the past isn't part of a positive place to be standing.

As an update, we've managed to complete the bakery and are totally operational. We realized that in our rush to become operational, we weren't really focused on the next ten-plus years of growth and expansion, some of which is catching up to us already.

Through the kindness of our friend and landlord (two words rarely uttered together) we've taken on additional space to expand our refrigeration capacity and to relocate our packaging operations separate from our pie-production operations. We are still -little by little- completing the construction. With the generous contributions all of you made, however large or small, we've managed to cover a great portion of our costs. We are quite thankful to all of you.

As promised, I will keep your emails and at some point, make contact with you regarding some form of tangible (or edible) thank-you.

As the sun sets on this day, we're actually quite happy where we are and how this past 12-months have played out for us. It was difficult at times, but in the end, quite rewarding. As of midnight tonight, we're offline with this campaign.

Cheers to all of you and again, a heartfelt thanks from myself, my family and all the staff here at Steve's Authentic.

We're probably in the last throes of our fundraising effort here at GoFundMe, as things seem to have flattened out a while ago.

But thanks to my buddy Roger McKee and those who sponsored him in the Gettysburg Marathon, we're getting some final support dollars coming in over the next few days. My deepest gratitude to Roger and Mindy for putting this together.

Now more than ever your support is so valuable to us, as our rebuilding campaign has shifted to a relocation effort. We have been graced with people in this effort who are extending their kindness through being flexible with payment arrangements, as our costs far outweigh our initial stated goal for our rebuilding.

To all our previous donors, again our appreciation. Below is where we are in our progress, thanks to your kindness.

A most important update, and letting you all know how much you have helped us. Our "recovery" is now officially our relocation. After 12-years on Red Hook's Pier 41, the post Sandy world has brought much hardship, and at the same time, has offered opportunities. The opportunity for us to relocate comes at this time, and we wrangled with the opportunity hard and heavy. I owe Greg O'Connell and his family a tremendous debt of gratitude, he gave me the opportunity to grow my business, feed my family and many other families as well.

Our plan is to have our transition from Pier 41 to our new space (details to come) on April 1st. Making a move like this under "normal" circumstances would be financially challenging enough, this is why your generosity is even more valuable to us. Construction costs were limited at the existing space, just enough to get us operational. Hopefully we'll be able to manage the relocation with the limited budget we have due to Sandy. We thank you again for your support. We'll keep you all posted.

We initiated our first withdrawal today, a HUGE help in our total recovery since every expense to date has been out of pocket. This transfer today is so important to us and again, our sincere gratitude for your assistance. Stay tuned for some exciting developments in our progress. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, Sandy was a total bitch, but she has brought some great opportunities for us and so many folk in the same predicament, from adversity comes opportunity.

I'm pleased to announce that we've lowered our goal by $4,000 due to the generous contributions people have made to the ReStoreRedHook fund. Over 50 storefront operations in Red Hook have been the beneficiaries of this fund, and in spite of my initial skepticism, the good folk at ReStore have managed to assisted shopkeepers in our community across the board, big and small. Our gratitude to the donors and the people behind this effort.

Sunshine Update, just ordered the Traulsens to replace the service refrigerator and the stand-up freezer we lost in the storm. 1G31310 and one G21000, total FOB Texas (we buy American) $9828. Total $25,535.

You guys are great, thanks again. Another Sunshine Report, Samantha just picked up her computer so we've replaced one of two that we lost, iMac 21.5/2.9QC/2X4GB/1TB/GT650M (whatever that means) @$1,797.64 for a total of $15,707. Couldn't have done it without you, cheers! Traulsens should be ordered today.

Another Sunshine Update on how your money is being spent, and as always, another BIG Thanks!

Lowes and Home Depot have both been visited on a regular basis, sheetrock, electrical items, paint etc, the day-to-day repair work, total to date $1499.
Metal Line Doors for a replacement steel door into the bakery, $572.

We're still waiting for the tax exemption letter before we make some larger dollar purchases but we've dribbled out a little here and there.
$435 for an electric motor replacement
$326 to replace phones
$869 to replace washer/dryer for rags and aprons
$1640 to replace two chest freezers
Will keep you posted as to how your money is being spent, thanks again everyone.

A BIG thanks again to everyone, we're getting ready to spend some of YOUR money, just waiting on some tax-exempt news from NYC before we make any larger equipment purchases. The main wall in the bakery (about 35% of what needs to be removed and replaced) has been finished and painted. We'll tackle the other bakery wall this weekend which is much smaller but the sink and tiling are involved. We calculated loss of perishables yesterday at just over $33K. We're hoping for some relief from Con Edison. Again, thank you for your help.

Feeling the love, thanks each and every one and I apologize for being slow in responding to each of you individually, I'm managing to do a few every morning but believe me, from everyone in the Steve's Authentic family of employees, we are quite touched and appreciative of your generosity.

Take a look at the GoFundMe pages specific to the Sandy recovery, helping the individuals stricken by the storm. I recommend making a donation to these folk first, then you can come back and visit us if you want.

18
years ago, in a studio apartment, Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies was
started. Over the years, through hard work and strict adherence to a
philosophy of bringing the New York area the absolute best key lime
pie, we have grown and been embraced by the foodservice industry and
the public. We have seen difficult times previously; moving into our
current Red Hook waterfront location on March of 2001, and 6-months
later the 9-11 attacks would cripple the economy and the city for
months, but we prevailed. Super-storm Sandy arrived and delivered a
different kind of hardship to us and our Red Hook neighbors. Sandy delivered a waist-high flood of water that washed through our entire space from one end to the other. Yet
another difficulty in which we believe we will again survive.

Our
losses of income, product and equipment are all replaceable, but our
employ has been upheaved. I'm proud of the fact that through my
business, I have fed many mouths, and not just in terms of your
dessert after a meal. My hard-working and devoted employees and their
children have also been effected by Sandy's wrath, and we are intent
on making sure their hardship is reduced during our recovery. We've
watched 5-children grow up within the walls of Steve's Authentic, we
will not let them down in their and our time of need.

After a two-week wait (as
of Tuesday, November 13th) our electricity was finally restored,
although not completely. Only now can we fully access the extent of
our damages, much of the equipment still needs to be inspected and
tested, some is obviously beyond repair because of direct salt-water
intrusion or simply too old. A lot of basic structural work needs to
be done; removing and replacing sheetrock walls, inspection and
maintenance of electrical services, re-tiling and painting. We had a
tremendous loss of product, literally thousands of pies and the basic materials we use to make them, and thousands in packaging materials was lost. Now that the
electricity has been restored, we feel confident we can start to
re-order and replenish our lost inventory. Our front counter and service refrigerator were washed away
and trashed, along with four freezer units. The office furniture and
supplies, electronics, computers, gadgets and knick-knacks -numerous
items that won't even be missed until we look for them because we
need them- trashed. Much of the equipment and tools we use for
in-house maintenance were totally lost.

The
community outreach has been tremendous, a real testament to the
tenacity and resolve of Red Hook residents and the neighboring
communities who turned out in huge numbers. The Red Hook Initiative,
our neighborhood outreach organization has been on top of things in
terms of assisting both the residential and business communities
effected by Sandy, and Restore Red Hook was recently created to
assist the businesses in need, both quite worthy of support.

With
your direct financial contributions to Steve's Authentic, we can make
the essential repairs to become operational, replace our lost
equipment and inventory and help fund our "family" of
employees in the process. We typically use end-of year funds to make
improvements and upgrades, putting what little money we have in the
coffers back into the business, but with the loss of production
-especially through the Thanksgiving season- we suffered a huge
setback. If we are fortunate enough to exceed our goal, those funds
would be used to make the improvements we were planning on doing in
the regular course of business.

Now that our oven and walk-in fridge are working, we plan on
cooking food for the Sandy victims in the Rockaway's, Staten Island
and our own Red Hook Houses, giving a little assistance to those who cannot cook for themselves. Anyone
who has contacts with food purveyors who can offer donations or
discounted foods (chicken and potatoes primarily) please contact us
as.

From all of us, our direct and extended family of employees and friends, we offer a sincere thank you and gratitude.

I'm your biggest fan! Discovered your tiny shop when a friend of mine, who lives and works in Red Hook told me about your pies. Every time I go to Red Hook I make sure I stop by and get a pie or two to take home!

$20

Sara Sampson

18 months ago

$100

William Bacon

19 months ago

For my DAWG friend Roger McKee

$20

Anonymous

19 months ago

$50

Anonymous

20 months ago

$100

Ginger + Mindy

20 months ago

It's so touching to see so much support. Congratulations on the marathon, Roger, and best of luck with the new location. We love pie!

$50

Anonymous

21 months ago

$100

yer sis

21 months ago

Yay Roger, ole buddy, ole friend, and President of the Don't Let a Little Pain Stop You Club.
(Mike is Vice Prez.)
No one else would carry on as you did, Roger, making such a heroic effort on Steve's behalf. Thank you, thank you.
Best wishes to Steve, Victoria and all the members of your Authentic family in the Brand New Bakery. May your success increase 10-fold.